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So Tired of Palpitations.

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Posted 2/1/2015 2:44 AM (GMT 0)
Hey CSA! I just had a chance to read through this post. Very interesting to see your journey, and how you are searching for the cause of palps. I am always trying to figure out my palps too. (What's causing them, what can reduce them, etc....) Those are really tricky things to figure out!!! Thanks for sharing! :D
Posted 2/1/2015 3:34 AM (GMT 0)

The beat goes on said...
They have been kicking up a bit starting around 2pm. Not intense though. It's weird this is the same time the palps did this yesterday. I don't know the significance. Took an Ativan and I think is helping it stay minimal. Not something I want to do on continuous basis though. I'm not freaking out. Just strange stuff.

Just a quick response to an earlier question, I'm a 33 year old guy myself and been doing quite well today. Had a single, moderate palpitation all day. More on that in a bit.

As for the timing, mine almost always came on at the same times. Rarely in the morning, but more often in the afternoon and early evening.

Here's what you need to do: keep a palpitation journal and 1-2 times a day take your blood pressure and pulse. The palpitation journal should be marked any time you have a palpitation that grabs your attention. If you can't get to it, make a quick note wherever you can. Then you can go back and review any common denominators between events.

Also, it can come in handy at reminding you that these are not anything unusual. Also the BP and heart rate monitoring is designed to be a reassurance. Folks with heart disease often present with symptoms of high blood pressure. If your blood pressure is averaging 140/90 or less and your heart rate remaining an average of 60-100 BPM, it's a reminder that your heart is, again, working as it should be.

Now a quick word on BP, Do not check it when you are stressing over palpitations. A palpitation episode can cause mine to shoot up 10 points in just a few minutes. Nowhere near "danger zone" territory, but enough that it gets above my typical average. That can, in turn, cause you to freak out even more. I always do my BP in the morning and before bed when I feel I am at my calmest.

Now as for me on timing, I have noticed that they do come after eating a lot more than typical. After SC mentioned carbonation I began trying something. I had not put ice in my fizzy drinks I like to have with meals in YEARS. Then it hit me: I hadn't done it in about ten years to be exact.

Now I cannot say that ice will cure all my palpitations, but it does dilute the drink and thus impact the carbonation. Which I believe has caused the palpitations to subside a great deal.

That, in turn, has caused more of a relaxing sensation which in turn I believe has helped to curtail a good number of the palpitations as a whole. (That's a lot of words to say this is further evidence of diet/palpitation link.)

So start off by seeing if there are any meals or certain types of food you are eating every day. You can read back through the thread and see me discuss how certain foods would almost always set me off. It maybe that way for you as well.
Posted 2/1/2015 3:41 AM (GMT 0)

Reepin said...
Wow! What a reaction this thread has had...looks like you hit on a topic that many of us are dealing with. Mine are very much like yours. I also notice that when I'm busy I don't get them as often but as soon as I relax - ker plunk, the flip flops and jumpy palps start. ESPECIALLY when I have been in a stressful situation. The way I look at it is "I'm still here" after all of this...amazing, isn't it?

I have never seen the links that Scaredy Cat gave before, but I am grateful that she did...I will definitely check those out.
I refuse to let the flip-flops/palpitations/pvc s put me into panic mode!

Peace out :-)

The rest and relaxation ones are the worst. Those are the ones you feel throughout your body like a clap of thunder and it jolts you right out of every conceivable comfort zone you could possibly have.

Glad you are keeping yours in control. I am still trying to get a handle on it.

It sounds crazy, but I honestly do believe icing down my fizzy drinks has played a big part in my skipped beats subsiding.

It never dawned on me until SC mentioned it that carbonation could be causing some issues. I've even noticed with the ice helping to literally water down the drinks that the air burps have even settled down a great deal.

Now I am struggling to go back through my own mental records to think about all reactions I used to have drinking them straight up, and drinking them with ice.
Posted 2/2/2015 3:38 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the info. Palps much better today. Few and far between. Go to,the doctor tomorrow so will,post after. Thanks again. It helps to listen to everyone's story and how to deal with this.
Posted 2/2/2015 4:40 AM (GMT 0)
Had my first real palpitation in a few days tonight, and low and behold it came along with the air burps. I'm thinking it was all the stuff I ate tonight while watching the game. Tons of nachos, a couple of hot dogs, and some ice cream. Only a couple of glasses of caff. free Pepsi (all iced down to dilute the fizziness.)

Made it alright until a few minutes ago and felt the typical flutter in my chest. Actually made me mad that it happened. A few seconds later I started getting those air burps again.

Blood pressure was normal. 135/80 with a heart rate of about 75. I had just taken my blood pressure when I felt that skipped beat.

In fact, all this weekend when I've checked my pulse it's been normal and calm even after my palpitation now I checked it and it remains steady at around 75bpm.

So I am convinced now more than ever that build up of air in my tummy goes does something to cause this problem. The ice in the drinks diluting the fizziness reduces the amount and the problems I have afterward, but obviously overeating can still cause the issue even with minimum of carbonated beverages.

So I am open to suggestions about this. Should I be more worried? Should I bring this up to my doctor even though it's been going on for a decade now? Does this change anything?
Posted 2/2/2015 5:33 AM (GMT 0)
Been about an hour since my post and nothing else. No fast heartbeats. no other skipped beats. Nothing. I am fascinated by this apparent discovery. Still slightly unnerved by it, which I know is strange but still.
Posted 2/2/2015 5:03 PM (GMT 0)
I'd say that considering the game day fare...you did pretty well!

You might want to mention your digestive issues with your doctor, just to see if anything could be helped with a PPI...or simple nutritional/probiotic suppliments helps...

...but I wouldn't be worried about it either.:)

Continuing to work on tracking trigger foods, as well as keeping up with anxiety management should also be a priority!


Wishing you continued progress,

S.C.
Posted 2/2/2015 6:09 PM (GMT 0)
CSA, obviously I am new to this and know diddley squat, but if your issues may be gastric induced it might help if you ate a healthier diet. Not judging, please don't think that, but it sounds like you eat a lot of processed, fatty, sugary foods. Hot dogs have nitrates? And a lot of weird additives. These food are high in salt too. I know when I drink carbonated water I get terrible gas which in turn results in palps. So I stopped those at least. I love junk food too but it can cause problems for me, maybe you too? I only offer caring suggestions. ☺️
Posted 2/2/2015 8:18 PM (GMT 0)
I have a big time "bachelor's diet" LOL. I am bad at cooking. So you are right. Groceries include anything that can be microwaved or stuck in the over right after coming out of the package =P
Posted 2/2/2015 8:36 PM (GMT 0)
I'm sorry😢 I didn't want to come across as judging. Believe me I didn't gain 25 pounds by eating salads and fruits and all things good in the world. I just know with me I physically feel better, more energy, etc without the processed stuff. Try packaged salads every now and then. I love the ceasers salad mix. Anyway enough preaching! Just got back from doctor visit. She couldn't hear any abnormal or skipped/missed beats or a murmur. She said my heart was beating kinda fast for sitting down but can be attributed to being nervous. Blood pressure was 130/80. Not too bad but usually better. I told her the palps usually start in the early afternoon and last until evening although have been kinda mellow for last couple of days. Will sign me up for Holter? Monitor. Request goes to either cardiologist or local hospital. I live in a small Northern California town. Not a fancy hospital situation! So I guess I wait until I get the monitor and see if anything is really going on or if it's all benign and I need some anxiety meds! Isn't life grand! Hope everyone else on here is doing well. Breath in and breath out. Slowly deeply and with conviction!
Posted 2/3/2015 2:13 AM (GMT 0)

The beat goes on said...
I'm sorry😢 I didn't want to come across as judging. Believe me I didn't gain 25 pounds by eating salads and fruits and all things good in the world. I just know with me I physically feel better, more energy, etc without the processed stuff. Try packaged salads every now and then. I love the ceasers salad mix. Anyway enough preaching! Just got back from doctor visit. She couldn't hear any abnormal or skipped/missed beats or a murmur. She said my heart was beating kinda fast for sitting down but can be attributed to being nervous. Blood pressure was 130/80. Not too bad but usually better. I told her the palps usually start in the early afternoon and last until evening although have been kinda mellow for last couple of days. Will sign me up for Holter? Monitor. Request goes to either cardiologist or local hospital. I live in a small Northern California town. Not a fancy hospital situation! So I guess I wait until I get the monitor and see if anything is really going on or if it's all benign and I need some anxiety meds! Isn't life grand! Hope everyone else on here is doing well. Breath in and breath out. Slowly deeply and with conviction!

Don't worry, I didn't take it as judging =P

I would, however, take what the doctor said as good news. A doctor can tell an awful lot about a heart just from listening to it a minute or so. Had you told her you were presenting with other symptoms along with it, I'll bet you wouldn't even have had to request the monitor, she would have ordered it herself.

Also, if you go back in the near future for a check up, have her give you two blood pressure checks. One at the start of the check up and one before you leave. This was how my doctor first started figuring out that my issue was anxiety.

She was worried about my BP since any time I went to the office she'd find 150/100 or 160/110. After a few check ups I brought my blood pressure chart in with me and she got an idea that something had to be off, so she checked me before I left. My BP had fallen 30 points just because I was about to leave. She said it was a sure sign of white coat syndrome, and she started watching me for signs of anxiety.

I was officially diagnosed with anxiety disorder last year. She's not entirely worried about my BP now. She said if we can get my anxiety under control and have me drop a few pounds I'd probably see it fall considerably on average.

I'll bet a dollar to donuts yours is 100% anxiety related. So even in an elevated state and slightly stressed, your doctor still saw no reason for alarm. That's a VERY good sign! =)
Posted 2/3/2015 2:28 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the positives. I don't think I have had any palps today so far. I watched what I ate today. Small cup of yogurt for breakfast and banana. Cottage cheese for lunch. Small piece of veggie lasagna for dinner. Drank three cups of herbal tea. Lots of burping but no gastric upset or anything. So far so good. I think I'm going to stay away from spicey foods for a bit. Sucks, because the spicier the better. And I took an Ativan this morning an one an hour or so ago, so that could be the big help for today. There has been stuff going on in my life lately, nothing major. I've never had this manifest in palps before. Maybe this is a good wake up call to start taking care of myself. Looking forward to the Holter monitor or whatever it is called. Get this over with. I appreciate your comments. It has helped tremendously. Now if only I could fix you some healthy home cooked meals during the week we would both be in good shape. Keep writing. What is causing your anxiety? Do you care to share?

Post Edited (The beat goes on) : 2/2/2015 7:34:24 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/3/2015 4:36 AM (GMT 0)

The beat goes on said...
Thanks for the positives. I don't think I have had any palps today so far. I watched what I ate today. Small cup of yogurt for breakfast and banana. Cottage cheese for lunch. Small piece of veggie lasagna for dinner. Drank three cups of herbal tea. Lots of burping but no gastric upset or anything. So far so good. I think I'm going to stay away from spicey foods for a bit. Sucks, because the spicier the better. And I took an Ativan this morning an one an hour or so ago, so that could be the big help for today. There has been stuff going on in my life lately, nothing major. I've never had this manifest in palps before. Maybe this is a good wake up call to start taking care of myself. Looking forward to the Holter monitor or whatever it is called. Get this over with. I appreciate your comments. It has helped tremendously. Now if only I could fix you some healthy home cooked meals during the week we would both be in good shape. Keep writing. What is causing your anxiety? Do you care to share?

It's a combination of actual real life events and pure, traditional anxiety disorder that I have had since I was little where I fill in the blanks with worst case scenarios. That's gotten worse in the last few years to the point now where I rarely leave the house, I try to avoid crowds, I like things to be quiet and comfortable. Anything outside of my typical comfort zone puts me on edge.

Say something as simple as going to the grocery store, I have to plan to make sure it won't be too busy or the traffic too bad etc. The larger the crowd the more stuff going on the closer to "gotta get out of here!" territory I get.

Best example: several years ago my friend talked me into going shopping on a Saturday. I went. I was in the mall 15 minutes told him to finish shopping and come get me. I went and sat in the food court since it had the fewest people around me there. I could go on a Tuesday night or a Thursday night when there might be a few dozen people all together there, but on a Saturday when there were hundreds there I couldn't take it and nearly had a breakdown.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/08/living/anxiety-coping/index.html
This article from CNN does a spectacular job of laying out part of what I feel. I maybe a little worse than she is, but same anxiety zip code (so to speak.)
Posted 2/3/2015 5:56 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for sharing. That takes a lot to do that. I see the importance your doctor has with getting the anxiety in check. I hope you are able to in time gain more strength and calm when going out in the world. It's a scary place out there sometimes. I'm thankful I live in a rural area but we aren't immune to the realities of a changing society. Crowds aren't my forte either. But I wake up every day thankful to be alive, thankful I have dear friends and family who love me and thankful for the strangers , such as yourself who give of their time and thoughts to help me and others. Be strong CSA. Work hard to face the issues that prevent you from living a full, happy life. You sound like a good person and you deserve this! As always, keep writing.
Posted 2/3/2015 8:42 AM (GMT 0)
I'm a 41 year old female. I have had panic attacks since a very young age. They come and go at different times in my life. Right now I'm having problems with waking up to panic attacks. Mostly its from a nightmare. I get Racing skipping beats drive me nuts. I can feel good for years without having them. But they always find a way to sneak back up on you. I have experienced every symptom from panic attacks. I understand what everyone is going through.
Posted 2/4/2015 1:05 AM (GMT 0)
Had a series of more traditional palpitations tonight. Still not sure what brought them on. I ate a candy bar as a snack to tide me over about 4:30pm and I drank a small cup of Diet Mountain Dew with ice.

I felt a minor skipped beat (nowhere near as noticeable as others have been in the last few years, but I still felt it.) After that I felt my heart racing a bit. It never got up into the 100s or anything, but I just had a conscious awareness of it with a few more much smaller skips (so much so that I question whether or not they were skipped beats.)

Only happened a few times overall between 5pm-7pm. I think I had another one when I sat down to type this, but I'm not sure. Again, none of them were entirely clear cut except the first one. In fact, I checked my pulse after this last one and it was about 75. Perfectly normal so I am thinking after that one singular skip that I felt 2 hours ago, I let anxiety sink in and play tricks with me.

Again, none of these have been anywhere near the usual I was experiencing. I am disappointed to have had any with such a light snack, but I think icing down my drinks (which also helps cut down the overall number I drink during the day) along with relaxing about my skipped beats has helped a lot more than I ever thought they would.

I haven't had a flip flop/THUMP skip in several days. All of the ones I've experienced have been more of the fluttery variety. Not sure if that means anything now or not.
Posted 2/4/2015 1:24 AM (GMT 0)

The beat goes on said...
Thanks for sharing. That takes a lot to do that. I see the importance your doctor has with getting the anxiety in check. I hope you are able to in time gain more strength and calm when going out in the world. It's a scary place out there sometimes. I'm thankful I live in a rural area but we aren't immune to the realities of a changing society. Crowds aren't my forte either. But I wake up every day thankful to be alive, thankful I have dear friends and family who love me and thankful for the strangers , such as yourself who give of their time and thoughts to help me and others. Be strong CSA. Work hard to face the issues that prevent you from living a full, happy life. You sound like a good person and you deserve this! As always, keep writing.

I'm the same way. I wake up and thank God since I always go to bed wondering if I'll wake up. I actually live in a rural area myself and it is a blessing and a curse. It's very relaxing, but keeps me from having a lot of opportunities. Maybe one day I will get all of this figured out.
Posted 2/4/2015 2:18 AM (GMT 0)

k500 said...
I'm a 41 year old female. I have had panic attacks since a very young age. They come and go at different times in my life. Right now I'm having problems with waking up to panic attacks. Mostly its from a nightmare. I get Racing skipping beats drive me nuts. I can feel good for years without having them. But they always find a way to sneak back up on you. I have experienced every symptom from panic attacks. I understand what everyone is going through.

I wouldn't wish them on anyone. Stick around the forums and you will find like minded people to help. =)
Posted 2/4/2015 2:08 PM (GMT 0)
Still no flip flop/thump feeling, but had an unusual "rush" like palpitation or a series of them this morning. Been up about an hour, and I had what felt like some minor palpitations (I have been sneezing again so it didn't worry me too much.) However, at one point I had this unusual one that may have been a couple back to back. It felt like a rush in my chest and then a much softer thump, just enough that I could feel it. It was the unusual two or three seconds of build up that was more worrisome.

My heart rate remained steady after the fact. Around 75-80 bpm, and I tried to stay calm, but I have to admit after I have reduced the number I am having, I still get very disconcerted by these that catch me off guard.
Posted 2/5/2015 12:01 AM (GMT 0)
This may sound like a really stupid question, but could caffeine be the problem going on with these out of nowhere skips? I know what many are thinking "uh, isn't that common knowledge?" Here's why I ask it this way, however: I only drink one or two caffeinated drinks per day, with my cut off point being 6pm at night.

I had tried cutting caffeine completely out of my diet, but I kept getting palpitations so I figured "well, it's obviously not the caffeine doing it", so I kept putting it back in (but leveling it off just in case.)

What I didn't do my math on was that caffeine may not have the exact same side effects every time. While I thought it may not have anything to do with it, it may have had to do with some of the skips I had. Thus those morning cups of Coca-Cola or Dr. Pepper or Mountain Dew in place of coffee may have slipped by me a few times without any noticeable problems, but like this morning could it be possible that it could have caused that isolated incident?

I was operating under the assumption that if caffeine was the culprit it would be doing it every time I drank it. I am going to go ahead and assume I was wrong, but I wanted to check and see just how wrong I was. I think after right now I may eliminate caffeine completely from my diet again and see if we can get rid of them altogether (please Lord let that be the case!)
Posted 2/5/2015 12:10 AM (GMT 0)
Mountain Dew has the highest caffeine of just about any of the soda pops. Chocolate has caffeine too. It's a good possibility you are having a reaction to caffeine. your best bet is to talk to your doctor! Hang in there! I'm still waiting to hear about when I get the Holter? Monitor. Also, welcome to the forum to the new folks. I'm a newbie too. It helps to have other people who are going through the same thing.
Posted 2/5/2015 7:43 PM (GMT 0)
I am so aggravated. I can probably figure out what caused it but it still makes me so mad. I ate lunch and an hour later...skipped heartbeats. Two or three of moderate size over the course of the next half hour.

It made me so blasted angry. I thought I was finally getting them under control. I had two ham sandwiches, a handful of chips and a glass of caff. free Pepsi. That was my entire lunch and all I plan on eating until supper.

It should not have been enough to cause me to have skipped heartbeats that's what makes me so mad.

The only thing I can figure is that I drank a normal sized glass of Pepsi rather than my typical mug that I normally use. All of them were in the dishwasher, so I had to use a standard glass instead.

I put ice in it and everything I thought would work to knock these things out and not have any more gastric induced palpitations. I'm not even sad that it happened, I'm just ticked off beyond reason that my body would do that to me. It sounds silly, but that's honestly how I feel.

The air burps were back too, so I know they were connected.

My next thing I will attempt after going back to the mugs will be taking an antacid every time I eat now to see if that will work or not. If that fails I may have to give up and just accept that these will be with me and I might as well get used to worrying about my heart health/mortality every day from now until I do die. *SIGH*
Posted 2/5/2015 8:33 PM (GMT 0)
Me too CSA08! I know that I've had some things upset me today at work - don't know if that has made a difference or not, but now that I'm back from my late lunch (which was spicy) I'm having palps and a quick pulse (102). VERY frustrating! Trying slow breathing while here at work. I know that this too shall pass - I just need to be patient!

Hang in there!
Posted 2/6/2015 12:18 AM (GMT 0)

Reepin said...
Me too CSA08! I know that I've had some things upset me today at work - don't know if that has made a difference or not, but now that I'm back from my late lunch (which was spicy) I'm having palps and a quick pulse (102). VERY frustrating! Trying slow breathing while here at work. I know that this too shall pass - I just need to be patient!

Hang in there!

I'll let you know how my antacid approach works. The weird thing is for supper, I ate a big hamburger. Enough to fill me up. I skipped the drink with it this time. I was fine.

If we get our stomachs under control maybe it will control these things.

My heart rarely races with them. It might get up around 90, but it's the blasted skipped beats that drive me crazy. Those *stop* *THUD* style beats that always make you go "am I about to drop dead!?"
Posted 2/7/2015 8:10 PM (GMT 0)
Ate lunch about an hour ago, and here we go again. No major thumps but a bunch of skipped beats. My heart rate did get up around 100 today and while checking my pulse I did feel a few misfires. They were probably considered skips, but they weren't stout enough to feel them in my chest. I have felt a few moderate ones, but nothing too much. It will feel like a slight flutter (but just one skipped beat or half skipped beat) instead of that 2 or 3 in a row I have had a time or two in the last few months.

I forgot to get antacids when I got groceries today so I don't know if that would help at all or not. I have high hopes since others have pointed out the benefits of magnesium.

Still feeling defeated by all of this. Even though I'm not having anywhere near as many thumps as I used to, it's still so annoying and frightening to keep having any symptoms once you start doing all these other things to cut down on them. Feeling defeated.
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